# 125 - - Maternal reflective functioning and attachment outcomes of an online s inging intervention for postnatal depression: SHAPER-PNDO, a s ingle-arm clinical trial

Abstract

Parental reflective functioning (PRF), or mentalization, is critical for offspring development. Postnatal depression (PND) may negatively impact this ability, resulting into impairments in menta liza tion and reduced attachment to the child. The aim of present work is s tudying the effectiveness of 6-weeks online s inging interventions, Melodies for Mums (M4M), in improving PRF and attachment to the child in a group of mothers suffering from PND.37 mothers were recruited. Demographic characteristics were collected at base line. At base line, week 6, and week 32 PND was evaluated with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); mentalization was assessed using the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) focusing on pre-menta lizing (PM) subsca le; maternal attachment to the child eva lua ted with the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS).Participants experienced s ignifica nt reductions in depression on the EPDS (16.6 ± 3.7 to 11.2 ± 5.3, p<.001, t (36) = 7.56, p <.001), showed a reduction of PM scores on the PRFQ (2.24 ± 0.66 to 1.86 ± 0.71, (t(34)=3.889, p<0.001)), and reported improvements in attachment scores on MPAS (66.89 ± 10.11 to 73.73 ± 7.57, t(33)= -3.735, p<0.001). Overall, there was a s ignificant effect of time across the s tudy, such that a total decline in EPDS (F(4,144) = 24.48, p <.001) and PM scores (F(2,148) = 13.315 (p<0.001), and increase of attachment scores (F(2,66) = 15.785 (p<0.001).Participating in M4M online may help mothers in reduction of depressive symptoms and also improve mentalization and bonding towards their infants.